Tara Webster
Tara Webster '''grew up on a farm in the Australian countryside, dancing barefoot in wheat fields and dreaming of becoming a professional dancer. She is naive, sensitive, and completely unprepared for life at the ultra-competitive National Academy of Dance. To succeed in Sydney, Tara will have to overcome homesickness, brutal criticism, a spiteful roommate, and an endless stream of embarrassing moments -- most of which involve her crush, Ethan. The other students have far more dance training than Tara, but despite the odds, she is fiercely determined to make her dreams come true. Relationships Kat Karamakov Tara meets Kat for the first time in Learning to Fly, Part 1 as for the rest of the characters. They first meet when Tara is searching for the Girls changing room. Kat, as a joke, tells her the wrong way leading Tara to change in the Boys changing room. Tara is angry at Kat, but then Kat covers for her when Tara is almost disqualified from the auditions for being outside after curfew. Tara forgives Kat and a strong friendship begins. Tara and Kat encounter some problems during their friendship: Tara falling for her brother, Tara cheating on Ethan by kissing Christian. But they eventually reconcile, and continue being friends until the year finishes. In season two, Tara and Kat both begin as best friends again until Christian and Tara break-up, therefore making Christian going for Kat. Tara overhears their conversation over a walkie talkie when she overhears the last sentence "When I kissed you, I wanted to do that for a long time..." from Christian. Sammy takes the walkie-talkie away from Tara and tells her that "you shouldn't be listening to that, T." Tara is then seen getting ready for her audition with Grace for the Prix De Fonteyn while dancing her solo "Red Shoes." Kat tells Tara that she didn't mean for all this to happen and that she didn't want to like him, but she did. Tara is mad at Kat for a few more episodes but then she realizes that she misses Kat and tries to mend the friendship by inviting her to the circus with the second years. Kat was Tara's partner for the trapeze act and when Kat had to catch Tara she said, "I've got you, T!" Tara responds and says, "I know!" When the two finish the act and fall into the trampoline, they are seen giving an dramatic hug, therefore, signaling that they are best friends again. This friendship holds and they are there for each other when Sammy dies. Abigail Armstrong Tara first befriends Abigail because they are roommates, but after Abigail shows her true self, they remain apart. Abigail is very nervous in season 1 that Tara might become a better dancer than her, leading to several incidents in which Tara was hurt, or embarrassed. In season 2, Abigail shows her nice and sweet side to Tara but Tara doesn't trust Abigail after last year. Tara and Abigail hug each other when they are at Sammy's memorial. Tara shows concern that she isn't showing any grief at Sammy's death, apart from her big, black hole in her tummy. Abigail tells her that she will feel it. Abigail also trains her to get the original choreography of the solo "Red Shoes" to beat Grace in the Prix de Fonteyn. Ethan Karamakov In the first season when Tara first sees Ethan, she falls in love with him. But Ethan acts like Tara is invisible. Eventually, the two start to go out. During the relationship Christian and Tara begin growing closer. Tara cheats on Ethan by kissing Christian. They eventually get over it as Tara and Kat become best friends again and Tara realizes that Ethan is more of a big brother to her, rather than a boyfriend and they become friends. Kat sets Ethan and Tara up on a secret date which is a bit awkward at first but then they realize Kat set them up and they treat it as a joke. In the last episode of the first series, Ethan suggests that Tara could spend the summer holidays with him. At first Tara agrees but then she decides to spend it on the farm with Christian instead. In Series 2 Ethan is angry at Tara because she chose to spend the summer holidays with Christian rather than him. Their friendship is rather rocky until Ethan begins to develop feelings for Abigail. Ethan seems to have forgiven Tara when she breaks her back and is concerned about her. Eventually Ethan moves overseas and is out of the picture for a bit. But in episode 25, Ethan returns to Australia in time for Sammy's memorial. He looks saddened by his death. Christian Reed Tara and Christian's first met in the Boy's changing rooms, where he was amused to see Tara getting undressed in the wrong changing area. A few weeks later in class, Christian and Tara are paired together in Paux de Deux, leading to them doing a trust project together. Their project was learn 20 things about each other, but Tara and Christian were not interested in learning anything about each other. When Tara was nearly assaulted by two boys, Christian comes to Tara's rescue. While both got off the wrong foot with each other, they eventually became friends. After the holiday break, Christian begins to have feelings for Tara and kisses her even though she is going out with Ethan. Eventually Tara starts to fall for Christian as well. They begin dating but then break up because she injures her knee which she indirectly blames Christian. Even though things are complicated between them, Tara stands by him especially during his trial and even invites him to stay with her during the holiday break. They began going out again in the beginning of season 2 while Christian stayed at Tara's farm for the Christmas holiday. Tara realizes that she is in love with Christian and discovers that Christian feels the samy way. They are so happy that Miss Raine feels they need to focus on their ballet more, and Tara agreed and put their relationship on a 'pause'. Christian thinks that means she wants to break up with him, and turns a cold shoulder towards her. Tara then explains that she doesn't want to break up with him. Tara and Christian make up, but Tara invades in Christian's privacy and tries to find Christian's dad. Christian gets angry at Tara and they don't talk for a while. Christian then breaks up with Tara and kisses Kat in a moment of weakness. Tara finds out over a walkie talkie about their secret relationship and Grace convinces Tara to hate Kat and Christian, so it is a bit awkward for a bit between them. Tara eventually gives Kat her blessing to go out with Christian. Kat and Tara make up, but Kat breaks up with Christian when she realizes that he is still in love with Tara. With the thought that Tara may leave the Academy, Christian decides to tell Tara how he feels, but tragic events complicates things. By the Season 2 finale, Christian sees how happy Tara is with Ben and steps aside but promises her she'll see him again for third year. Grace Whitney Tara starts out as being Grace's 'tour guide', but Grace leaves her when she is at a rehearsal with Ethan. Tara is annoyed with Ethan's irratable instuctions and leaves the rehearsal, leading to Grace taking over Tara's solo dance. Tara is angry at Grace but then she forgives her and apologizes for being angry. Grace says she doesn't mind. Tara and Grace end up being good friends as Tara believes Abigail broke her pointe shoes when it was actually Grace. Tara moves in with Grace after this incident and when her back is broken, Grace encourages her to break an important rule in the acadmey. This leads to her getting expelled. When Tara is accepted back into the academy, she and Grace are better friends than before, and Tara goes back to rooming with Grace. But then Grace has an icident with her male teacher, Zach, and she tells Tara to tell Miss Raine a lie. Tara isn't sure, so she tells Miss Raine that "Grace thought...". She is sent back to England but returns to Sydney representing the UK for the Prix de Fonteyn. She then takes Tara's special solo, "Red Shoes," and tells her that she is peforming it at the Internationals and she let her win the Nationals. Grace and Tara turn into bitter rivals and compete the same solo at the Prix de Fonteyn. Sammy Lieberman Tara, Sammy, and Kat all are a group of best friends. In season 1, Sammy and Tara creates a pros and cons list on Sammy's laptop and they send it to Tara's laptop. When Kat and Tara lock Abigail in Abigail and Tara's room Abigail finds the Pro's and Con's list and sends it to the whole school. When Abigail and Sammy were dating, Tara accepted their relationship. In season 2, Tara and Sammy are still great friends. When Tara finds out that Sammy died, she is the one to comfort Kat and Abigail. Late that night she finds out that she has a voicemail from Sammy. She sneaks out to listen to the voicemail from Sammy. "Miss Webster. Can you believe that this momentous day has finally arrived? It's just you and me. Prix de Fonteyn, baby. Look I think Christian's on his way to see you, but, um, ignore him, OK? This is your day, T. Don't get distracted. I was just thinking, remember last year, when we were at the bottom? Now here we are, conquering the world. I'll see you out there." Tara is confused because she hadn't cried about Sammy's death since it happened. Abigail reassures her by saying, "Oh, you will, trust me." Ben Tickle Tara's first impression of Ben isn't a good one. They were paired up as Pas de Deux partners and Ben was being an idiot and licking his hand and then picking up Tara. When Ben settles down a bit, Tara considers him as a friend. After Tara is over Christian, she begins hunting for a crush. She says that Ben is too goofy to be a boyfriend, which Ben retaliates by kissing her. She decides that Ben will be her crush and tries to make a double date with Kat and Christian. This leads them in the water with pond weed all over them and the two of them angry at each other. When the Prix de Fonteyn national round is about to start, Ben tries to make Christian uncomfortable by asking Tara out to the beach. Tara asks him out but Ben says that she is on a "friend ladder" and that she couldn't cross to the "girlfriend ladder," but Ben actually really enjoys her company and starts to develop feelings for her. At the Nationals, Tara hears from Christian that Ben is only trying to psych him out. After Tara's dance, Ben kisses her in front of Christian before his solo distracting him. Tara confronts Ben if he was playing her in order to beat Christian. Ben admits that going to the beach was strategical, but he is genuine now. Tara doesn't believe him and walks away. Then, Ben goes to a number of public displays of affection (or embarrassment for Tara) to get her to like him again. Tara said that she forgives him, but she doesn't want to get together. With Christian's advice to tone down the Benster, Ben arranges for the group to go ice-skating together, and Tara is doubtful at first, but she starts to really enjoy herself and when Ben and Tara fall over together they kiss. In the next episode, they are together as a couple. Due to tragic events, the couple is back on shaky ground. Trivia *Tara was expelled from the Academy in "Backstab." *Tara suffered a broken back in "Breaking Pointe." *Tara grew up on a farm ever since she was little. *Tara usually takes care of a young kangaroo on her family farm. *She broke her wrist jumping off hay when she was 5. *Her idol is saskia *In season 1, Tara was the worst dancer in ballet and in hip-hop, she was number 59. *Ben has licked his hand and touched Tara twice in Pas de Deux. Quotes *"If I try too hard to copy her path, I might miss my own." *"I always knew in another life I could fly. So that's why in this life I dance." *"I no longer have a '''best friend. I have a''' sister''' who I would trust with my life." *"I have two families. One at home, and one here." *"I love ballet, but I won't let it destroy me." *"Most of all, I don't want to say goodbye. So I won't. I'll say thank-you." *"They told as that in Second Year there were no Second chances. They were right. Each day we have to dance as if it could be out last." *“As dancers we learn to be in control of our bodies down to the last millimeter, because if even one finger is out of alignment it all falls apart, so you practice movements until they're perfect. You learn to control gravity, to control pain, and refuse to let yourself get away with anything. But there's one thing that doesn't follow the rules, that you wish you could control but can't - your heart.” *“Before I left home, Mom gave me the talk. Not THAT talk. She was worried one day I'd regret missing out on being an ordinary teenager. I told her point blank that there wasn't any choice, because who wants to be ordinary when you have the chance of becoming a professional dancer?” Gallery Tara's Gallery Category:Female Characters Category:Students Category:Season One Category:Season Two Category:Characters